Airstream Dreams

We’ve been doing a lot of evaluating and re-evaluating where we are right now, and in spite of all the navel gazing life continues to move forward. Our overarching DESIRE is to buy land, but that still appears to be a ways off. Our position continues to improve, with steady employment, vehicle repairs and debt reduction, along with a tiny amount of savings. We’ve also been addressing our need to be DOERS of the word, rather than just HEARERS by taking opportunities to help others as the moments appear. We’ve “blessed” a lot of people with tomatoes this year, for sure!

An interesting opportunity has arisen that we are mulling over. A gentleman of our acquaintance has an aging Airstream that is in dire need of restoration. I have long desired to have a silvery Airstream to slip through the various lovely campgrounds of OR, and we’ve been negotiating with the gentleman. It’s a 1977 Airstream Sovereign International Land Yacht, 31’, with a center bathroom.

It’s ours if we want it, and at a very reasonable, low price. There’s always a “however” attached to anything we ever do, though. Here’s our list of “however”:

1.No title. This poor gem has been rusting away at the storage for 10 years. The gentleman we know bought it 10 years ago and never titled it. The man he purchased it from bought it from the original owner and alas, also never titled it. The pink has been lost for some time. There are a couple of ways we can go about recapturing the title, all mostly gory and expensive. DJ is going to talk to the DMV tomorrow about winkling out the fastest and least expensive way to get the pink and register it. This will help us decide if we want to actually move forward.

2.The poor thing is filthy. It’s full of junk and garbage, has wasp nests, it’s got moss growing on it, and the beds and couches were removed, lost to the mists of time. It needs to be polished, and DJ estimates 250 hours of work for that part alone, in terms of man-hours.

3.It also needs muy repairs. It needs tires, professional brake work from sitting for so long, the belly pan dropped and the insulation pulled, the frame painted and strengthened from underneath, some wiring repairs, a dent pulled, the heater and water heater replaced, and probably the Dometic fridge as well. It also needs new house batteries.

Most of this will not cost a lot of money, just time. And I’m not the one who would have to do the restoration work. So I have deferred the decision to DJ, the sensible member of our duo. Since he’s the one that will provide the labor, the decision is his.